Some destinations aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy permits you to actually savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill following midday. The sorts of places wherever locals know how to linger — around coffee, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens once you eventually begin to benefit time as much as distance. Either way, a lot more travelers are obtaining joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His title is becoming linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go gradual — therefore you’re contemplating Italy — Here's seven spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the point. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed proper to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to convey, slowly and gradually.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that feel much more like living rooms.
If you will get caught in the discussion with an individual older, Allow it come about. That’s the place the ideal travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each and every view contains a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and eventually, so would you.
Trying to find extra context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine here prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers visit and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling in a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how spots such as this provide another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, but it rewards those who detect. You walk the loop and afterwards wander it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — within a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Section of a preservation job — holding the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy in this article, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the thing. You could see Italy in weekly. It is possible to strike the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a new plan. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re ultimately ready to hear.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.